News - Page 176

SOMEBODY GOT TOLD.
Like all great vanguards, Vince Vaughn has come under fire for his radical views. The funniest part of the unfunny trailer for The Dilemma features Vaughn addressing a room with the line, "Electric cars… are gay," and now, a month later, controversy has sparked.
Rumored electric car lover Anderson Cooper went on "Ellen" and flagged the line as offensive. "I was shocked that not only they put it in the movie," Cooper told DeGeneres. "But that they thought that it was okay to put that in a preview for the movie to get people to go and see it." Just like the trailer for Vaughn's Couple's Retreat, the offensive material will be removed. Not to defend Vaughn's fictional choice of words, but I have to agree he has a point. A car you plug into the wall? C'mon. (Deadline)

"Say 'hallo,' to my giant hair!!!"
I hope you're ready to see Al Pacino attempt to act dramatically while wearing a potpourri of silly lady-wigs, because that's what HBO is going to give us. The NY Times reports that Pacino will rant and scream his way through a portrayal of legendary music producer/firearms enthusiast Phil Spector for an HBO biopic written and directed by David Mamet.
This is awesome. Spector is best known lately for his ability to produce dead actresses, rather than his acclaimed music production, but he's lead an intriguing life that not many know about. For instance, his unauthorized biography highlights the time he took a romantic interest in a young La Toya Jackson. He invited her over and she left running and crying through the Hollywood Hills not too long after. Nobody knows what went on in the house. I mean, c'mon. What HASN'T a Jackson seen? If Mamet can crack that nut, we're in for an interesting story.

"Say what?!"
Warner Bros. has scrapped plans to release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in 3D. Break some hearts, THR:
"When the film arrives in theaters on Nov. 19, it will be in 2D, playing both conventional theaters and IMAX, but that "we will not have a completed 3D version of the film within our release date window. Despite everyone's best efforts, we were unable to convert the film in its entirety and meet the highest standards of quality. We do not want to disappoint fans who have long-anticipated the conclusion of this extraordinary journey."
Good riddance. If the film was going to have Clash of the Titans craptastic post 3D then keep that mofo in the second dimension. Releasing Part 2 in 3D will make it all that more memorable and dare I say…special. However Warner Bros, I suggest you reenforce your studio gates. Some irritated muggles might be storming them at any moment.

Our fears that Alice Eve would never land another movie role again have been waylaid. She's actually starring in the confined space thriller ATM. Originally, it was reported that Adventureland's Margarita Levieva was playing the role but now that appears to have been misinformation. Either that or Margarita suffers from claustrophobia, or co-star Josh Peck. Sounds plausible. He was a child actor after all.
ATM is filming now in Winnipeg with David Brooks directing from a script by Buried's Chris Sparling. ATM's plot came to be when Buried producer Peter Safran essentially asked Sparling, "Hey. Wanna milk this contained thriller sh*t?" Sparling's response, of course, was a resounding "F**k yeah!" (via The Playlist)

Normally, I don't like to put funny video clips in my posts. After all, I'm a writer. It should be my words that kind-of-sort-of make you laugh, not some Youtube clip.

But when it comes to Betty White, I make an exception. First of all, the Internet loves her. Second, the internet loves Inception, and in this clip from "Community," that's what she's talking about. Third, and most importantly, I can't write because last night I mixed beer, wine and whiskey like some brain-dead freshman sorority girl. But unlike her, I knew all the guys who were hitting on me were lying, I just didn't care. (Vulture)

I knew it was only a matter of time before The Social Network inspired a copycat film. But I hardly expected said film to be a biopic on Karl Rove with Shia LeBeouf playing the Republican strategist. But like Costco on Acid, Hollywood can be a very strange place.
In the wake of The Social Network's success, the L.A. Times brings word that the new hot biopic circulating in Hollywood is the Wes Jones script for College Republicans, a dramedy about Karl Rove's college bid to become chief campus conservative under the tutelage of Lee Atwater. Among the many young hotties vying to play Rove (only in Hollywood!) is Shia LaBeouf…
Now that I think about it, I can totaly see why this might come together. A lot of people seem to hate Karl Rove, a lot of people seem to hate Shia LeBeouf, and I always have to pretend I know who they both are so I don't look stupid. It's the perfect fit. (Vulture)

We've got word that Ridley Scott's Alien prequel may end up being downright adorable. Early reports that Gemma Arterton would star in the film were shot down, leaving the role wide open for the right starlet. According to Deadline, the director and studio have been meeting with actresses, including Carey Mulligan, and Noomi Rapace.
Rapace is said to have a made "a strong impression." There wasn't any mention of how Mulligan's meeting went, but our inside sources confirmed that Ridley "really liked that little boy."

Johnny Depp made one little British girl's dreams come true when he showed up at her school in full Captain Jack Sparrow wardrobe to help her murder her teachers. Break it down fo' me, Daily Mail:
The star is currently in south-east London filming the fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie On Stranger Tides and arrived at the Meridian Primary School dressed in full character as Captain Jack Sparrow.
He made the one-off trip after nine-year-old pupil Beatrice Delap wrote to the star asking for help staging a &lsquo;mutiny&rsquo; against the teachers.
The school was told just ten minutes before that Depp would be arriving and two blacked-out cars swept through the school gates.
Beatrice revealed what she had written in the letter to the star &ndash; or rather his salty seadog alter ego.
She said: &lsquo;Captain Jack Sparrow, At Meridian Primary School, we are a bunch of budding young pirates. Normally we&rsquo;re a right handful, but we&rsquo;re having a bit of trouble mutiny-ing against the teachers! We&rsquo;d love if you could come and help.
&lsquo;Beatrice Delap, aged nine, a budding pirate.&rsquo;
She said that she was then asked by the star to make herself known from the assembled pupils once he arrived, and gave her a cuddle. Beatrice marvelled: &lsquo;He gave me a hug and he said, &ldquo;Maybe we shouldn&rsquo;t mutiny today &lsquo;cos there are police outside monitoring me.&rdquo;&lsquo;
Ten minutes warning?!? That's hardly any time to prepa– oh my God!! He's Here now!! Hi Johnny, how are you? …. Oh, now he's jumping out the window. What a weirdo.

Writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg have turned in their draft of Ghostbusters 3, and it's in Dan Aykroyd's hands now. That's either a good thing or a bad thing depending on whether or not you saw and enjoyed Year One or Blues Brothers 2000. Aykroyd's jazzed about it though. He told Vanity Fair:
"I'm working on the script now and those two – Stupnitsky and Eisenberg – wrote Bill the comic role of a lifetime, and the new Ghostbusters and the old are all well represented in it… we have a strong first draft that Harold and I will take back, and I'm very excited about working on it."
He then got into the changes we can expect to see with his character if this thing ever gets a greenlight:
"Now my character's eyesight is shot, I got a bad knee, a gad hip – I can't drive that caddy anymore or lift that Psychotron Accelerator anymore, it's too heavy. We need young legs, new minds – new Ghostbusters; so I'm in essence passing the torch to the new regime, and you know what? That's totally okay with me."
Totally okay as long as this new regime doesn't try to touch his script.

Brad Bird can't quit adding baddies, and people in general, to his Mission: Impossible 4 movie. Michael Nyqvist from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo films recently joined as a villain, and now Anil Kapoor and Lea Seydoux have chosen to accept the mission of kicking Ethan Hunt's ass.
You might remember Kapoor as the backstabbing game show host in Slumdog Millionaire, and Seydoux from Robin Hood and the intense opening scene in Inglourious Basterds. The two join an already huge cast of Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Josh Holloway. With that many people lending a hand, the mission seems to be getting less impossible. Team work, you guys! (Deadline)

When Australians first started appearing in American films, no one raised much of a fuss. After all, there were only a few of them (Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, etc.). Stars such as Mel Gibson (who was born in the U.S.) and Nicole Kidman became household names, but even so, their movie accents were so Americanized that many people didn&rsquo;t know they were foreign. Back then, Australians who came here wanted to blend into the fabric of American society (save for Paul Hogan, but at least we knew he could be trusted). Those were simpler times.

Once again, thank you, Internet.
Warner Bros. has hired Sherlock Holmes writer Anthony Peckham to do a complete rewrite on Yucatan as a star vehicle for Robert Downey Jr. The actor will also produce the film with his wife Susan Downey through their Team Downey production company. Awwww, I love family affairs. Maybe their kid can mark the scenes with a little clapboard.
In the film, Downey will play a deep-sea salvage expert hired to steal a mysterious hidden treasure hidden deep underwater in the Mayan ruins of Yucatan. So far Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson haven't wiggled their way into the project. God knows they love looking for treasure together and getting into trouble along the way. Yucatan was originally a passion project for the late and great actor Steve McQueen. He compiled over 1500 pages of notes but never got the film off the ground before dying in 1980. Hope he's cool with his kids handing it over to Downey. A vengeful McQueen zombie would be the worst kind of zombie. (Deadline)

Just add skunk tail.
Apparently all that sweet, sweet Shrek money isn't enough to support Mike Meyers's hockey and kilt habit. The SNL alum will loan his voice to a live-action/CGI hybrid film starring the Looney Tunes skunk, Pepe Le Pew.
It's reported that both Le Pew and his reluctant inamorata Penelope Pussycat will both be brought to life digitally, while the world around them will be shot in live-action. Can't believe this is actually being made. I always thought the first film about cat rape would be made by Harmony Korine. (Vulture)

Play him off, Slash.
So Guns N' Roses (and Velvet Revolver) guitarist Slash wants to make horror movies now. Okay I guess. He's teaming with Scout Productions to start Slasher Films. It's almost like he had to do it because his name is Slash. Deadline, tell us more:
They will produce edgy contemporary horror fare with a nod to the thrillers of the '70s and '80s. They've set up their first: Nothing to Fear, a horror/thriller that follows a young family as it tries to reinvent itself by moving to a small town in rural Kansas. The family is tormented by an ancient demon with an insatiable blood lust.
Again, okay I guess. Rocker Rob Zombie has already been doing this for a few years now. I doubt Slash is going to come on to the scene and change the world of horror as we know it. Of course he did say, "I've always been a huge horror fan and creating films that take you back to the days where horror movies actually scared the hell out of you is something I've always wanted to do." Has anyone gone into production on a horror movie with the intention of not scaring the hell out of people? I mean except for Katherine Heigl projects.

Man, Alfonso Cuaron is having a bitch of a time finding someone to star in his Gravity movie. Angelina passed on it twice, Scarlett Johannson and Blake Lively were rumored to be in contention, and then it was announced that Natalie Portman was in talks for the role. Well, she passed. Now Universal is trying their damndest to woo Sandra Bullock for the part. If you ask me, Bullock should pass as well. She doesn't need to be caught in the center of a widely-publicized story about how she was second banana to a few younger women. That's so last year.
If Bullock does indeed pass, they should just go with Olivia Munn. She's already got the helmet and everything.

Yesterday, everyone on the Internet was reporting that Darren Aronofsky was taking on the Wolverine sequel. Well hold your damn horses. Now, Empire Online is reporting that Warner Bros. has made a counter offer that might just land the director in their camp: a 40's era period piece called Tales from the Gangster Squad.
Tales from the Gangster Squad follows the exploits of Sergeant John O&rsquo;Mara&rsquo;s off-the-books team of police mercenaries, who targeted mob-linked gangster Mickey Cohen and his attempts to bring East Coast organised crime firmly into LA. Originally chronicled in a series of LA Times articles by Paul Lieberman, the script has been penned by cop-turned-writer Will Beall.
That's a tough call. Both films sound like a good fit for Aronofsky. It reminds me a little of Sophie's Choice, except for this I'm going to stay tuned to find out what happens instead of switching over to "Real World/Road Rules Challenge" (Sorry, Sophie).

Moviefone put together this montage of people in movies watching movies. If it's not too meta for you I suggest you check it out. Next up, people in movies watching movies of people watching movies. Did I just give you a nose bleed?
Go to these links and click the links inside of them.
Student Loses Scholarship After Starring in Porn (Asylum)
10 Deadliest Hurricans EVER! (Ranker)
Penthouse Letters That Didn't Make the Cut (HolyTaco)
How to Make Out with Katherine Heigl (FilmDrunk)
Hottest Animal Lovers (Maxim)
Men's Package Enhancing Underwear (BarStoolSports)
Most Hypnotizing Workout Video Ever (EgoTV)
6 Most Detestabe People In Hollywood (Pajiba)
10 Most Classic Atari Games of All Time (Unreality)
Drunk Man Stumbles Into Rodeo Ring (TotalProSports)
22 Types of Muffin Tops (Smosh)
15 Ways Girls Try to Look Hotter on Facebook (BroBible)
Ashley Greene's Workout Butt (CelebJihad)
Thanks to the Munchies Nick Diaz is Broke (CagePotato)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Brother Died (PopEater)
Winning Over Her Friends (MadeMan)

"Back off, zombies!"
David O. Russell is removing himself from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in favor of working with another constantly hungry creature — Vince Vaughn. Natalie Portman couldn't work out her schedule to align with O. Russell's, and now he needs to hop on Old St. Louis.
But it looks like she won't be the only starlet who won't have the opportunity to be berated by the nutbar director. Scarlett Johansson had to drop out of Old St. Louis due to her own scheduling conflicts. We'll keep you posted when the search for a new Pride and Prejudice and Zombies director begins, but we feel that the gig should go to Troma's Lloyd Kaufman. He pretty much invented and mastered that genre as it is. (NY Mag)

BoingBoing was sent this video that condenses the entire Star Wars Trilogy into two minutes AND does the whole thing in paper animation. I love it. Way better than spending six hours on the originals. Sure, the special effects aren't as impressive but the time spent on cutting out every little detail from construction paper deserves major kudos. Good job, Jeremy Messsersmith, a Minneapolis musician.

This game looks great.
The road to a Halo movie adaptation has certainly been a bumpy one. Originally, Universal and Fox split the rights and Peter Jackson was brought in. But then Jackson wanted too much money and Universal was all like, "F*ck you!" And then Jackson was all like, "No. F*ck you!!" Then he walked, effectively killing the project.
Now Dreamworks is stepping in to try to make a film adaptation of the Halo BOOKS and not the game, so that Universal can't turn around and be all like, "F*ck you!!!" Sounds like a solid plan, except that someone in Hollywood had to own up to knowing that Halo books exist. Nuuuuurrrdddd!!!!!
At any rate, Microsoft has not agreed to hand over their prize pig just yet, so we'll have to see how this plays out. If it doesn't fail, they should just film the hot girl in the picture above while she plays Halo. Or I guess as she reads the Halo books, so that Universal doesn't step in. I'd still watch that. I'd even buy the novelization of the movie about her reading the books. Actually sounds like a lot of work. I'm gonna go play videogames now. (NY Mag)

Sam Raimi has for reals seriously confirmed that his next directorial project will be Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful. I thought this news was already confirmed with Robert Downey Jr. attached to star, but apparently Raimi was waffling between World of Warcraft and Oz, and Downey Jr. isn't yet a certainty. What a slap in the pizza face to MMORPG gamers.
Deadline says that Disney expects production on the film to begin next year at some point. I imagine what month and day depends on how well the new draft of the script written by David Lindsay-Abaire shapes up. Lindsay-Abaire, who wrote festival hit Rabbit Hole starring Nicole Kidman, also worked with Raimi on the script for the Spider-man 4 movie that Raimi eventually burnt out on.
Now the director will put all of his efforts in making the Wizard walk a similar path as Dorothy in the original film. If he doesn't run into Bruce Campbell as the Lion, Tin Man, or Scarecrow a serious injustice will be done. Disney should have signed off on that stipulation before ever a hand was shook.

Peace.
Stringer Bell a.k.a. Idris Elba is in talks to join Nicolas Cage, Ciaran Hinds, and hottie Violante Placido in Ghost Rider 2. THR reports that Elba would play "an alcoholic warrior monk tasked with finding Ghost Rider." There are so many contradictions in that character description. Basically, Worst. Monk. Ever.
Johnny Whitworth is also looking to jump into the Neveldine/Taylor-directed flaming skull flick. The "CSI: Miami" star would be "a criminal who is recruited by the devil to find the boy and is later turned into a demonic creature." What's with all the finding going on in this movie? I wonder how Neveldine and Taylor will make that interesting. Oh right, shoot the whole thing like it's an acid trip. This can't not turn out excellent.

"Is there anybody out there?"
Transformers 3 officially has a title, and it officially doesn't make any sense. Transformers: The Dark Of The Moon is the title that an adult pieced together, wrote down on a page, submitted to a major film studio, and will now be printed on billboards, T-shirts, posters, and fast food tie-ins.
Sounds like a) a clever way of side-stepping legal issues with Pink Floyd, or b) a note someone would jot down while baked out of their mind. Not sure if the baked person in question is Michael Bay or writer Ehren Kruger, but it's something we'd expect more from Shia. He's at that age. (Collider)

"You don't know what a HUG is?"
Warner Bros. is planning to start shooting Christopher Nolan's third Batman movie in April in the fine city of New Orleans. Yes, I'm displeased by this news too. I was hoping shooting would start next week in the Rite Aid parking lot across from my apartment. My reasoning for this is two fold. 1) April is too damn far away. I want another Nolan movie, especially another Nolan Batman, in theaters ASAP. 2) New Orleans is too far away. If the film were shot in the Rite Aid parking lot across from my apartment I'd be able to watch all the action go down. With enough green screen and CG they could rearrange the homeless people to make it look like Chicago/Gotham. (Coming Soon)

"SNIKT!!"
We'd heard the rumors but they sounded too crazy to even qualify. Yet somehow, against all laws of nature, Darren Aronofsky is in talks to direct Wolverine 2. Aronofsky surpassed rumored shoe-in David Slade to win the honor of directing the second film in this so far pretty sh*tty franchise, just days after it was announced that Zack Snyder won the Superman directing duties.
May be a case of Justin Bieber punk'n us all, but if not, at least we have a director who can artfully convey Wolverine's frustration with the world that won't accept him as he surfs on a missile or whatever ridiculous action set-piece makes its way into this film.
Where this leaves Preacher or movies that are a good idea for Aronofsky to do, we do not know. But if you ask me, this move is in direct reaction to the failure of The Wrestler action-figure line. Apart from the Marisa Tomei Lapdancer dolls, those things just didn't sell. (Deadline)

Red-headed and adorable Emma Stone from Easy A and Zombieland has been officially cast in the Spider-man reboot, but not as the red-headed and adorable Mary Jane Watson. Stone will play Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker's blonde-haired first love interest. Say whaaaaaaat, director Marc Webb?
&ldquo;The chemistry between Andrew (Garfield) and Emma was stunning and made Emma the clear choice. At the heart of the story of Peter Parker is not only the amazing Spider-Man, but also an ordinary teenager who is wondering what he has to do to get the girl. Andrew and Emma will bring everything audiences expect to these roles, but also make them their own. Much to my surprise, it was fun to find out that our choice for Gwen (Emma) is also a natural blonde.&rdquo;
How he found out her natural hair color is unknown, but apparently it was "fun." Pics or it didn't happen. (TheWrap)

An offer has gone out to Jack Nicholson to reunite with Tom Cruise in El Presidente. If he signs on, Nicholson will portray a degenerate former-President who goes on the run under the protection of a Secret Service agent played by Cruise. Sounds like a mash-up of Guarding Tess and My Fellow Americans, or Knight & Day with a much more attractive co-star.
This would be the first time that Cruise and Nicholson have appeared together onscreen since the A Few Good Men. If you're not familiar with that film, check out this classic clip.

The Critic – A Few More Good Men – Watch more Funny Videos
Or something. (LA Times)